Some of y'all were notified by FReepmail of Uri's condition some weeks ago - At the time, it was open heart surgery, which is bad enough... The letter below is from Uri's wife. He's been down a rough road and she would really like FR's Prayer Warriors to continue praying hard.

{Edited for privacy} are mine. Otherwise, the letter is as I rec'd it.

Hat-tip to Quix who was primary in getting in touch with Uri's household, and to Joya for her help too.

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{Uri'el 2012} was born with a genetically bad heart valve. He lived with it for years. Five years ago he started to have episodes of shortness of breath and dizzy spells. He saw a cardiologist who said, "We can crack your chest open, and give you a new valve and you will have the heart of a thirty-five year old." {Uri'el 2012} would say later, "I liked the part about the heart of a thirty-five year old, but that cracking the chest open part doesn't make me feel warm and fuzzy."

In the last year things got progressively worse. He knew that he had no choice, if he wanted to live, then to agree to the open-heart surgery. Doctors were seen, and plans were made. He was to go into the hospital on February 1st for the surgery.

The day before the surgery I remember hearing a "mourning" dove that appeared to be on the roof right above the bed. She sung a very mournful song, and she was right above {Uri'el 2012}'s side of the bed. Since I was a child, God has used birds to get my attention. The minute I heard that dove's song I felt like things were not going to go well. That night, as we prepared to go to {Big City} the next day, I remember saying to {Uri'el 2012}, "Are you sure that this is what you really want to do." He said, "At this point what choice do I have?" I knew he was right. Regardless, I had a premonition that things would not go smoothly.

The next day {Uri'el 2012}, {my daughter}, and I spoke with the cardiologist doing the surgery. I remember the nurse weighed {Uri'el 2012} and he weigh 210 lbs. The doctor told us that, with the exception of the valve, {Uri'el 2012} was in good shape and he would go home with in 5 days, and within six weeks he would be better then new.

The operation the next day took six and ½ hours. The doctor spoke to me afterwards and told me that {Uri'el 2012}'s valve literally desenegrated in his hand when they opened him up. It's a miracle he made it alive to the operation.

For some reason things didn't go as planned. {Uri'el 2012} would not leave the hospital for two weeks. Later, that would prove to be very telling. At the time we didn't have a clue. When he finally left the hospital in {Big City} he was sent to a rehabilitation center in {another town}. The minute he walked in there he weigh 247 lbs. He was swollen like a balloon, and no one knew why. After two weeks there he was released to go home.

He came home and had to be waited on hand and foot. He was weak and in a lot of pain. He still could not lift his arms, and now it was over 3 weeks since the operation. He slept in the lazy boy recliner, as it was too uncomfortable for him to lie down in the bed.

By his fifth day home he was becoming lethargic, could not eat and would stare into space. I began to fear he had had a stroke. My daughter and I decided to call an ambulance to take him to the ER. When we got there he had a tempeture of 104 degrees, he was in massive pain in his chest area and was having difficulty breathing. The er doc called a cardiologist. The cardiologist determined he had an infection. He was airlifted back to {Big City}.

An infection specialist was called in. After two days of tests {Dr. Infection Guy} was very blunt when he told {Uri'el 2012}, you have a severe infection and it's in your bloodstream. The disease we would later find out is MSSA. MSSA infection is a disease that is dangerous and scary for a number of reasons. It is contracted while at hospitals when a person is in a weakened condition. It is resistant and sensitive to powerful antibiotics making it especially difficult to eradicate. MSSA and MRSA infection are virtually the same disease with minor differences. They are both staph infections that enter the body through the nasal cavity, the respiratory track as well as open wounds. They are both "flesh eating" diseases.

The swelling {Uri'el 2012} had was the MSSA infection. He was sent to {another town} Living Center with an infection, and no one there knew it or did anything about it, even when I complained that there was NO WAY an open heart surgery patient should have gained that much weight. I kept saying, "Something is wrong!" I was ignored.

{Dr. Infection Guy}, the infectious disease specialist told the cardiologist that they had to operate right away, as the MSSA would be eating away the sternum and there was no time to waste. As it turned out, it was already too late. The sternum was gone as well as rib bone and muscle tissue. The cardiologist would go in 3 times to debride the bones of his chest and remove infection. They were having little luck in getting it all. It was in the bloodstream. {Uri'el 2012} only has one kidney. He went into acute renal failure. During this time he was kept in a state of "semi-coma" with a ventilator breathing for him. His condition was worsening, and one of the docs told me over and over, "Your husband is a very sick man." I told my daughter, "She is preparing me for the worse."

Because I have Lupus, which means I have an impaired immune system, it was determined I should not be there with him. I was sent home, to worry. Each time the phone rang; I just knew it would be someone telling me he was gone.

I reached a point where the emotional roller coaster was too much. I decided that no one should have to go through what {Uri'el 2012} was enduring. I got down on my hands and knees and cried out to God. "Now, God, you know that {Uri'el 2012} is your child. He has given His life to you and if he dies he is going home to be with you. Knowing that God, I beg you to either take him home to be with you, or heal him completely. Your will be done and I will accept it God, whatever it is!"

His two sons came from {Mountain Town} to visit him and he didn't even know that they were there.

But, miracle of miracles, God began to answer my prayers. A plastic surgeon was called in to reconstruct a chest for him, to hold the heart in. Up until that operation the heart was exposed, as the chest was open with only a vac wound covering.

The operation was two weeks ago. The feeling was that, if they closed it up it would help the infection to heal. They did close it 3/4ths of the way. He was so swollen they left about a third of the chest open. That wound is being treated currently. The kidney started to function normally, and the doctors were amazed! Thank you JESUS!

He was moved to a rehab hospital in {Big City} last Saturday. Every other day the wound is cleaned and the surgeon visits. The infectious specialist was in today and said that he will be there, still on IV antibiotics, for another six to eight weeks He will be on oral antibiotics after that. If the wound doesn't close completely he will have to have a skin graft.

His life will never be the same. His immune system will be impaired forever, now. He cannot drive because of the airbag hitting his chest. He will have to sit in the backseat of any car he is in.

What has happened to {Uri'el 2012} is a nightmare. Everything that could go wrong has gone wrong. MRSA and MSSA are running rampant in hospitals and the medical profession is keeping it quiet, for fear patients won't want to be operated on. Since this happened to {Uri'el 2012} I have found out things about this infection that I never knew. I have read the book MRSA the superbug. I know what to look for now, but at the time I first saw him swollen I didn't have a clue that it was the infection that was causing it.

I would like to ask for your continued prayers for {Uri'el 2012}. No one thought he would have made it this far. I know that God has been with him. I know that God answered my prayer and I know that, "No weapon formed against us will prosper!"

Thank you for your call. I will let {Uri'el 2012} know that you care and that you are praying for him!

Thank you for the update. I have been praying for him on and off as the Lord brought him to my mind. I know that going in he was not expecting to have any problems and was trusting in the Lord to see him through. God has spared him for a purpose and I will continue to pray for him and his family for strength, encouragement, peaceful and painfree rest, comfort, healing and grace to endure for the glory of God.

12
posted on 04/03/2013 11:20:07 PM PDT
by boatbums
(God is ready to assume full responsibility for the life wholly yielded to Him.)

To Uri'el 2012's wife and him. May the good Lord who can literally create this wonderful universe in such diverse ways, look down upon you two, and answer our combined requests for HIS very best for you. A miraculous healing on HIS part. We ask in Jesus' name. So be it.

Oh dear...what an ordeal and then some...thanking God Uriel is still with us..for sure!

Oh Lord God....How you amaze us with your care, and when things look as if there may be no hope...and then you come in the midst of it all. Thank you Lord, for doing so for Uriel....and we ask you continue this healing, fully and completely..just as was asked.

And Lord...give Uriel's family extra strength to assist and go thru this time...until they are all on the other side of this happening...stronger and closer to you for it all.

Hang in their dear Uriel,it aint over till God says it’s over! The flesh is indeed weak but I know your spirit is willing and that is what is important.The Sword we wield is a spiritual sword and these children of God here want you with us and we pray God grants you to us in these times we are in.He will soon CRUSH satan and we want you here with us to see him in the dirt under our feet! In Jesus name!

25
posted on 04/04/2013 1:22:25 AM PDT
by mitch5501
("make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things ye shall never fall")

My sincerest prayers go up for Uri’el and family! We went through something very similar in 2010 when I nearly lost Mr S to MSSA after the docs implanted a contaminated pacemaker/defibrillator. After the implant operation, he went home and two weeks later they had to life-flight him to the nearest big hospital. It was determined that it was MSSA and it had gone through his bloodstream. Like Mrs. Uri’el and children, we had to prepare ourselves for the worst. Five weeks later, he was home. The doc said the only explanation for his survival was divine intervention. I have no doubt that is true. God is GOOD!!!

So my heart goes out to Uri’el and wife. Please convey my thoughts and encouragement. It’s a rough row to how. I pray that God strengthens him further. MSSA and MRSA are too frequently the cause of these scenarios after surgery.

Prayers! A friend of mine got this is a hospital with a very low infection rate and was there for 9 weeks and thought it was the end. She pulled through! I pray for the same for Uri’el. It can be done!

Many of us Catholics in the forum have enjoyed the companionship of Uri'el 2012 in our faith discussions. We Catholics also believe in the power of intercessory prayer. I am posting below, a prayer for the intercession of Venerable Fr. Solanus Casey, through whom many miracles have been recognized. It is not necessary to be a Catholic to say this prayer, as explained. I am asking ALL who visit this thread to say this prayer on behalf of our fellow freeper, Uri'el2012. May God's will be done.

Father Solanus Prayer

Since this site is intended for persons of all faith, a few words of explanation are necessary, particularly for non-Catholics or for those unfamiliar with the works of Father Solanus Casey. Father Solanus (1870-1957) was an American Capuchin priest. A blessing to all those with whom he came into contact, Father Solanus served God in the New York City area from 1904 to 1923, in Detroit from 1924 to 1945, and in Huntington, Indiana from 1946 to 1956. The last year of his life was spent back in Detroit.

Father Solanus is not, as of this writing (June, 2005) a saint. Pope John Paul II bestowed upon Father Solanus the title of "Venerable," an important step on the road to sainthood, but public devotion is allowed only after beatification. For that, the Church looks for evidence of at least one true miracle.

Thus, the prayer below is not a prayer to Father Solanus. (The "Father" in the first line refers to God the Father.) It is, rather, a prayer to God, asking that the special request of the person saying the prayer be granted in connection with the memory of Father Solanus.

If you say this prayer once each day for nine days in a row, and then have your special request granted, please honor the memory of Father Solanus and his good works by reporting this receipt of God's favor to: Vice-Postulator, 1780 Mt Elliott Avenue, Detroit MI 48207, USA.

PRAYER

Father, I adore You. I give myself to You. May I be the person You want me to be and may Your will be done in my life today.

Thank You for the gifts You gave to Father Solanus. If it is Your will, glorify him on earth So that others will carry on his work For the poor, lonely, and suffering of our world.

In order that others will joyfully accept Your divine plan, I ask You to hear this prayer (insert special request here) through Jesus Christ, Our Lord.

Amen.

41
posted on 04/04/2013 5:36:44 AM PDT
by NYer
(Beware the man of a single book - St. Thomas Aquinas)

Prayers for your husband and prayers for your strength, roamer. May Our Lord heal and comfort. Please let him know that he is in our thoughts and prayers. Whenever we would discuss anything (even if we disagreed), he was kind and a gentleman. God Bless and hugs, Mom

still on IV antibiotics, for another six to eight weeks He will be on oral antibiotics after that.

Ask his wife if she can give him some probiotics.

His life will never be the same. His immune system will be impaired forever, now.

Those are words of unbelief. Tell her NOT to say this!! They are not words from God. Speak ONLY what Jesus says - "By my wounds you are healed." and never waver from it. Meditate on His Words only to renew the mind and don't entertain words of unbelief.

I had open heart surgery and MRSA, also. God is no respector of persons. What HE did for me, HE already has done for Uri'el, also, 2000 years ago. It Is Finished - It's in the supernatural so keep believing what JESUS says and not the doctors/staff. They only can rely on what tests/report (natural) tell them, Uriel has the report of JESUS (supernatural) and what HE says. Who do we believe? - man or JESUS!!

I know that God has been with him. I know that God answered my prayer.

Has been? "For He Himself has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you." Heb 13:5. God fulfilled His own Word as they do not return void. She/his wife spoke/believed them..and Jesus fulfilled them. "So shall My word be that goeth forth out of My mouth: it shall not return unto ME void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it." Is 55:11.

What has happened to Uri'el is a nightmare. Everything that could go wrong has gone wrong.

But JESUS says..." For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jer 29:11

That's the report from JESUS! IF I didn't say it, believe it and meditate on it - I would not be here either! We know Satan is a liar, so we must never believe him nor say the words he wants us to say that makes us wander into unbelief.

Thank YOU JESUS for the complete healing of Uri'el. Your work is finished, our work is to believe YOU and never waver from YOUR WORD no matter what we see or hear!

Thanks to you, roamer_1, and left that other site for making me aware of this thread.

I’m so sorry to hear, I was completely unaware of what was going on. If you will FReepMail me his name, not only I will pray for him but will put his name in our church’s prayer list. We ARE a praying church and the Lord has blessed our prayers oftentimes.

49
posted on 04/04/2013 7:18:26 AM PDT
by Former Fetus
(Saved by grace through faith)

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